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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26632738">Not A Monster</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentia/pseuds/Valentia'>Valentia</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Among Us (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Cute, Falling In Love, Good and Evil, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Killing, M/M, One Shot, Other, Why Did I Write This?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:48:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,908</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26632738</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentia/pseuds/Valentia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Impostor falls for the Crewmate. Can Red be more than the monster everyone thinks he is? And can Black learn to look past a silver tongue and sharp teeth and learn to love one?</p><p>-- Now with fanart!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Black/Red (Among Us), Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>918</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Not A Monster</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello everyone.</p><p>This is something I've never written before bc, well, the characters are not even humans. They're coloured blobs. Coloured blobs that I have deeply fallen in love with. Thus, this story. Inspiration came from <a href="https://twitter.com/eyebaus/status/1306624038735814658">this</a> tweet and its replies, and you can find me <a href="https://twitter.com/hxrrysangel_">here</a> if you want to talk about Among Us or anything, really. And if you ever want to play a round of Among Us with me, you can reach me there, too. I'm always up for it when I have time.</p><p>One difficulty I had with this is since the characters are technically genderless, I wasn't sure how to go about the pronouns. I realised, referring to ten characters with "they" is more than just confusing, so I resigned to going with genders, which I'm also not 100% happy with, but I found no other solution. Black and Red are both referred to as "he", simply bc I love myself some LGBT romances. But, really, they are whoever you imagine them to be.</p><p>The fanart for this fic comes from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bumblebreezily/">BumbleBreezily</a>, <a href="https://missc3poartz.tumblr.com/">MissC3PO</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/eyebaus">nick</a>. Thank you endlessly for bringing my vision to life.</p><p>Now that everything is said, enjoy the fic and leave kudos or a comment, it would mean the world to me. &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/>
© <b>nick</b></p>
</div><p>Red has never seen a Mira HQ before. Back on his home planet, he’s heard a lot about the Skeld spaceships, and most Impostors that they send out end up there. He’d thought it would be the same for him once his time came, they’d knock on his door, drag him out of his house and tell him to go kill everyone on the spaceship until only him and his partner were left. And that’s what happened, except there already was someone red appointed to the next Skeld mission, so they sent him out to Mira HQ instead. They told him to be quiet, quick, and to make the Impostors proud. Red just nodded.</p><p>Now they’re in a circle at the launchpad, looking at each other with an unsure eye. There’s nine other colours, blue, green, brown, white, black, yellow, orange, purple… and pink. Pink with her red aura around her and a glint in her eyes that freezes Red’s blood. This is Pink’s fourth mission amongst the Crewmates, and she infiltrated their aircrafts every single time. In a way, Red should feel relieved that he has someone by his side that will surely make them win, yet all he feels is loneliness. He’s only spoken three words with Pink before they left, and all she did was lick her lips and say “I’m going to pierce my tongue through every single one of them.” When Pink looks at him across the launchpad, Red looks away.</p><p>Everyone scatters quickly to do their first tasks. Red blindly follows the first few that leave the launchpad behind. He looks around, trying to find out where there’s work to do, so he remembers it for when they will watch him. Everyone is quiet, still. Red looks to his side and sees Blue’s second eye on the top of his head watch him closely. He smiles. The eye looks away as it bounces with each of Blue’s fast steps. They walk along the corridor, then up and then left. There’s a lot of lockers in this room, and the first ones stop to do their task. Red watches Blue’s attempt at gluing wires back together, while Orange does the same and tries to help him. Green gives him a questioning look as he walks up to the metal door that spells out <em>Decontamination</em>. Red rubs his neck. “I’m new,” he mouths, and Green gives him a smile before he hits the button that opens the door.</p><p>Red decides to follow Green, the heavy door closing with a whoosh behind them. The room is more like a tunnel, and soon it’s being filled with dense, white fog. Red is glad for the glass protecting his eye. He also notes that there’s a vent in the bottom right corner. Back at home, he’d had to spend a whole year training how to crawl around in them the quickest, how to find his way around unknown ventilation systems and how to be extra quiet doing it. It hurt his back pretty bad.</p><p>Once the fog is gone, the opposite door opens and him and Green enter a very loud area of the ship. They must be close to the reactor. Green, however, leads them to the right and into a laboratory. An acid smell makes Red’s lungs hurt.</p><p>“Something is definitely not right here,” Green notes, and walks over to a table with different liquid samples. “Who left these here unlabelled?” Shaking his head, he takes the samples and puts them in a machine, then closes the lid and presses a button. Red still watches him.</p><p>Then he asks, “Don’t you have tasks to do, Red?” Red nods. He looks around, trying frantically to find something to do. There’s some stones and boxes on the table in the middle, could that be a task?</p><p>“I-, um, I’ve never been on this ship before.”</p><p>Green looks him up and down. Red wonders how he manages to carry a plant pot with a red cosmos on his head and not make it fall.</p><p>“But you have a map, don’t you?”</p><p>“I—”</p><p>Then, the alarm goes off. Suddenly, the whole ship is wrapped in red light that keeps turning off and on. Red shivers. He knows what this means. So does Green. Everyone knows that on these kinds of missions, most people don’t survive. He wonders why the Crewmates keep sending people out, knowing most of them will die.</p><p>“Follow me.”</p><p>Red follows Green back into decon, through the corridors and into the cafeteria. At least he assumes that’s where they are now, because there are tables and benches and vending machines with drinks. Everyone has gathered already, standing around the table with a scary-looking red button in the middle. Red has never realized how many things that have anything to do with danger have the same colour as his skin. Suddenly, it feels like all eyes are on him. Across from him, Pink is standing between Purple and Blue. The pink flower in her hair makes her look so innocent, Red wonders if any of them is ever going to suspect her.</p><p>“Where?” Green asks.</p><p>“Balcony,” Yellow replies, who has apparently reported the body because there is a megaphone in her hand. “And so quickly, too.”</p><p>“Did you see anyone?” Orange asks.</p><p>Yellow shakes her head.</p><p>“Hey, who’s dead by the way?” Blue asks, his little eye scanning the round.</p><p>“Brown.” Pink’s voice is smooth and soft.</p><p>“I was with Red the entire time, it’s not him,” Green says, and Red nods.</p><p>“Yeah, Green is safe.”</p><p>“Self-report?” Black asks.</p><p>“No, I was with Yellow the entire time.”</p><p>Yellow smiles. “Thanks, Orange.”</p><p>Then, Black raises his voice. He looks sad. Even through the thick glass Red can see the sadness in his eye. “I know this sounds stupid, but I’d really hoped this mission would be different. We’re sending thousands of people out to these missions, and on every single one there’s at least one Impostor.”</p><p>Purple shrugs. “So what, Black? You knew that, you <em>wanted</em> to come here. Now we have to make the best of it.  What’s the alternative? Living a boring life back home with a boring job and no opportunity to do anything exciting?”</p><p>“Not everyone finds it as boring as you, Purple,” Orange said.</p><p>Purple is just about to reply, when Blue jumps in. “If we fight with each other, we will never find the Impostors among us. I say we skip ejecting someone this time. Everyone needs to stay in groups and stay safe. Agreed?”</p><p>They all agree, and no one is ejected. Red looks at Pink, who shoots him a quick, devious smile.</p><p>Red decides to no longer stay with Green, since Green already suspects he’s not doing tasks. Instead, he follows Black and White. They end up in MedBay, where White is preparing to do a self-scan. Meanwhile, Black stands around a bed. Something is in the bed, covered up with a white blanket that is drenched in Red. The only thing sticking out is a pair of horns. Brown. Or rather, what’s left of Brown. Red comes up to Black.</p><p>“Hey, are you okay?”</p><p>Black sighs. “Yeah. I didn’t know Brown at all. I just feel like I should feel bad for him, but all I can think is that I’m glad it’s not me.”</p><p>Red nods. “I know exactly how you feel.”</p><p>Black shoots him a smile. Through the helmet, Red can see Black’s watery eye. He notices how young Black looks like this, even though all Crewmates and Impostors are the same age when they’re sent out onto the missions.</p><p>“We should go do our tasks,” Black says then, turning away from the dead body.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Red looks around, noticing White is gone. It’s quiet now, an eerie silence lying over this part of the ship. They’re alone. There’s no one near. And there’s a vent next to the scanning platform and Black is grieving and… Red’s hand is slowly wandering behind his back, clutching the knife in his pocket. <em>Quiet and quick</em>, they told him. It would be the perfect opportunity. But what about White? She left them here. She’d know. But time has passed, White’s word would mean nothing anymore. If anything, Pink will take care of anyone that is a threat to their mission. Red could do it. Right here, right now. Stab Black and vent and join the others until the body is found and…</p><p>“Will you stay with me, Red?”</p><p>He can’t. Red is sweating, his helmet fogging up from the inside and blurring his vision. He lets go of the knife in his pocket, balling his hand into a fist instead. Black is looking at him, a pleading look on his face.</p><p>And before he knows what he’s doing, he says, “Yes, I’ll keep you safe.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/>
<br/>
© <b>nick</b></p>
</div><p>“Thank you, Red.”</p><p>They look at each other. Black still looks sad, and Red doesn’t like it. He feels bad for feeling bad, and he feels worse for chickening out and metaphorically stabbing Pink in the back instead. He’s an Impostor, he tells himself, in the end they will all hate him and send him out to space. Either that, or everyone, including Black, must die. It feels like an impossible decision.</p><p>Suddenly, another alarm goes off. This one is different, it’s accompanied by a loud noise and then, Black pulls Red by his hand and screams, “The reactor is going to melt!”</p><p>Red stumbles behind Black, his hand tingling where Black is holding it. Black lets go once they’ve rounded the corner to the locker room, but the tingling stays. Red doesn’t remember the last time anyone has touched him without the intention to scold or hurt him.</p><p>When they reach the reactor, Pink, Blue, Orange and Green are already there. They stop the meltdown, and the ship goes quiet again except for the whirring of the machines. Orange, Blue and Green leave again. Pink does too, but not before shooting Red a dirty look. Red wonders if anyone else is already dead by now.</p><p>The answer comes in the form of another alarm, and everyone gathers in the cafeteria.</p><p>“I found Purple’s body in the greenhouse when I went there to do my task,” Yellow says. “But I don’t know how it is possible, I was in Admin the entire time and didn’t see anyone pass it. I think they must have come from the vent at the greenhouse.”</p><p>“Almost everyone was at the reactor, except for White, Purple and Yellow,” Pink states.</p><p>“Yellow has been acting suspicious,” Blue says, “I think she followed me around and then stood still and suddenly the alarm went off and when I ran towards the reactor, Yellow didn’t come to help.”</p><p>“So you say she self-reported?” Orange asks.</p><p>“I think so, yeah.”</p><p>“I agree, Yellow is sus. I think I saw her fake a task,” White chimes in.</p><p>“It’s not me! I didn’t go because I knew you guys would fix it and I had a lot of tasks to do in the upper area of the ship. When I went to clear the O2 filter, I found Purple.”</p><p>“I believe Yellow,” Pink says.</p><p>“I don’t,” White says. “I say we eject her. I don’t want to risk having an Impostor alive. I have kids.”</p><p>White is cradling the head of one of her children that hides behind her legs. The other is sitting happily on their mother’s head, swaying back and forth.</p><p>“Okay,” Blue says, “vote Yellow.”</p><p>“It’s not me, please!”</p><p>But it’s too late, almost everyone raises their hand to vote for Yellow and they drag her to the waste disposal of the cafeteria, throwing her down the chute as she cries. Black has not said a word, and Red feels him clutch his arm.</p><p>They go on with their tasks. Red mostly follows Black around, watches him fix the wires, check the door logs and restart part of the reactor. Sometimes, Red fakes his tasks, saying he’s downloading data onto his device, or swiping a fake ID card through the Admin computer. He doesn’t think Black suspects him. Red likes Black’s company. They’re mostly quiet, but it’s a comfortable silence that makes it easier for Red to conceal his identity. He has plenty of opportunity to kill Black, and he knows he should, but every time he wants to, Black smiles at him or takes his hand or asks for his help with something and Red forgets about it again.</p><p>Another dead body is found, Blue, and Black vouches for him when Orange accuses him.</p><p>“I was with Red the entire time, it’s not him.”</p><p>“But I swear I watched Red do a task and afterwards, the wires were still broken! Maybe it’s you both,” Orange says.</p><p>“No, please, I can scan,” Black says. “Please come watch me scan, Orange, I can prove it’s not me.”</p><p>“Three people are gone, Orange, I think we should give them a chance to clear their names,” Green says.</p><p>Orange sighs. “Fine, I’ll follow you to scan. But what about Red?”</p><p>Black is looking at him. Everyone is. Red swallows. “I…”</p><p>“I’ll vouch for Red,” Pink says. “I’ll follow him wherever he goes. If I die, it’s him.”</p><p>Everyone agrees, and no one is ejected.</p><p>Orange, Pink, Black and Red make their way to MedBay. Black prepares his scan with shaking fingers, and Orange apologizes for accusing him as soon they watch the green hologram moving up and down around him. It’s only the four of them, and Red watches Pink closely. Then, Pink shoots him a look, and her fingers motion a gun. She wants a double kill. Red panics. He shakes his head at Pink, mouthing “Not safe”. Pink rolls her eyes, but doesn’t shoot.</p><p>Instead, it suddenly gets dark. Red knows because his vision switches to infrared and because Orange is cursing. “Shit, the lights, I can barely see my own feet. Let’s get to the Office, guys.”</p><p>Black is just about to follow, but then Red looks at Pink and his heart stops. He can see Pink’s silver tongue peek out of her mouth, cold and deadly. Clearly, Pink wants to kill someone while the Crewmates are almost blind. So Red makes a decision. He grabs Black by his arm, shoves Pink aside and drags him out of the room, but to the left towards the launchpad, away from where everyone else is running to fix the lights.</p><p>“Red, where are you going? Lights are in the office, the other way.” Black almost trips over multiple times, only caught by Red holding on even firmer.</p><p>“I know, Black.”</p><p>He only stops running once they’ve reached the launchpad. It’s still pitch black, and Black stands so close to him Red is sure he could feel his breath on his skin if it wasn’t for the helmet.</p><p>“Let’s wait here until the lights are fixed,” Red says, panting. He knows he’s acting suspicious, but he also knows that any Crewmate that is around Pink is in danger. And Red really can’t let Black die. Not him. Not by the ruthless hands or tongue of Pink.</p><p>Then he hears Black whisper, “Red, you’re scaring me.”</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Black,” he whispers back. “But please trust me, it’s not safe out there in the dark. The Impostors can get to you. I can’t let anything happen to you. I promised, remember?”</p><p>Through his infrared vision, Red can see Black smile. “Thank you, Red.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/>
© <b>BumbleBreezily</b></p>
</div><p>And then, Black is hugging him. Their helmets crash together as Black throws himself at Red, but Red doesn’t care. He feels Black’s warmth, feels his hands dig into his shoulders. He hugs him back. He can’t not. Red feels betrayed by his own feelings, his own conscious, all his senses telling him to kill Black, shove him away, stab him in the back multiple times so his dead body will sink against Red as his arms go limp. A killer, that’s what he is, a monster, with a silver tongue and twisted mind, heartless, cruel, evil. That’s what everyone back home says they are, what they are proud of, even though no one remembers how it came that the Impostors got their name or why they started infiltrating Crewmates’ ships to gain food, resources and materials. It’s just always been like that for Red, and every time he asked questions, they would turn away. </p><p>“Red?” Black takes a step back, his hands lingering on Red’s shoulders before they fall back down.</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“Why are you on this ship?”</p><p>Red frowns. “I didn’t choose to come, but everyone around me said I had to go. They, uh, they said it’s what I’m here to do. I never really wanted it, I think, but I never fought it, either. I guess I just didn’t have the strength to say no.”</p><p>“Did your parents tell you to go, too?”</p><p>Red closes his eye. He feels an aching pain in his chest at the memory, a scar that has been reopened over and over again and that can never fully heal.</p><p>“My parents are dead,” he explains. “They, uh, they went on a mission just like this, separately, and neither of them returned. I grew up alone, mostly. I was old enough to take care of myself, and where I come from, most families are broken, so no one bat an eye.”</p><p>“Oh, Red, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”</p><p>Black hugs him again, even tighter this time, and Red grips his back and buries his head in the crook of his neck as much as he can. He wishes he could see Black’s whole face, his eye colour in the sun, his smile without the distortion of the glass.</p><p>“It’s okay. I made it this far. We’ll both be okay.”</p><p>The lights are slowly coming back, and Red’s vision goes back to normal. Black blinks against the neon tubes around the launchpad, then shoots a smile at him.</p><p>“We made it through the night,” he says, and Red smiles back.</p><p>Together, they make their way back towards the center of the ship. But after just one corridor, the alarms goes off again, and once they’re in the cafeteria, Pink is waiting for them with the megaphone in hand. Red feels Pink’s piercing stare through his helmet and looks away. If he wasn’t an Impostor, he’s sure Pink would have killed him and Black already.</p><p>Once everyone is there, Red is shocked to see that there are only six left. White is still alive, holding the hands of her children. Green is there, but his cosmos flower has lost a few petals along the way. Blue, Pink, Black and Red.</p><p>“Orange is dead,” Pink says. “I found her in Admin.”</p><p>“God, I hope we have at least one impostor out with Yellow,” Green said.</p><p>“Me too, but they can still win. If the other Impostor is good,” Pink said. “Even with an incapable teammate.”</p><p>Pink looks at him, but Red doesn’t even dare to look in her direction.</p><p>“Pink, I think you’re very suspicious.” Green looks at him and Black. “But so are you two. Orange is dead now and can’t vouch for Black scanning anymore. Plus you’re always together, and I didn’t see you anywhere when I fixed the lights. I left the office to go to the storage to get the watering can for the flowers, and when I was on my way back up Pink had already reported the body. Where were you?”</p><p>“We were at the launchpad,” Black says. “Red and I wanted to stay together and stay safe as far away from trouble as possible.”</p><p>“I will go check the door log to see if you’re lying, then,” Green says.</p><p>“But we’re only six people,” White chimes in. “If Yellow wasn’t an Impostor, they only need to kill two more of us and they can take control of the ship.”</p><p>“Don’t think I don’t know that, White,” Green says.</p><p>“I’m finished with my tasks,” Blue says. “If we stick together and do the rest, they won’t be able to take over the ship anymore and leave.”</p><p>Green nodded. “Yeah. Who has tasks left?”</p><p>“I’m done,” Pink says.</p><p>“I have two left,” Black says. “Red?”</p><p>“I have one left.”</p><p>“I have two more,” White says.</p><p>“Me too,” Green replies. “Let’s stick together and do the tasks then.”</p><p>“Fine,” Pink says. “But all of you should be very, very careful. Or the Impostors will get to you.”</p><p>“I still think you’re sus, Pink,” Green says. “You say weird stuff.”</p><p>“If that’s your proof, I think we should skip.”</p><p>They do skip. Red and Black follow the others around the ship. They walk behind everyone, and at some point, Red feels Black take his hand. Red squeezes them. He tells himself everything is going to be okay.</p><p>They make it through two and a half tasks before the alarm for the reactor goes off again. Together, they make their way down the corridor towards the locker room, through decon, and left to the reactor. Red and Pink end up on the upper panel, Blue, Green, Black and White at the lower panel.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing?” Pink hisses at him through gritted teeth. The alarm is so loud in this area of the ship, Red can barely hear her. “You haven’t killed a single Crewmate.”</p><p>Red starts sweating, fumbling to get the machine into the mode where it will scan his palm.</p><p>“I’m building trust.”</p><p>“Fuck trust. We’re two against four now, only two more need to die, then Mira HQ is ours. Now everyone is together and we won’t have a chance! You’re the most useless Impostor I’ve ever met.”</p><p>Red can feel himself get angry. Pressing his palm against the sensor, he whispers. “Not every Impostor has chosen this life, and not everyone is as cruel and heartless as you. Everyone on this ship is fighting for their life, maybe if we worked together instead of against each other, there would be enough resources for everyone.”</p><p>“On the ship?”</p><p>“In the entire galaxy.”</p><p>And with that, Red takes his hand off the sensor and walks back over to the others.</p><p>“Let’s finish this,” Blue says, leading them into decon and towards his next task.</p><p>They go to the office, then stop in the hallway, then make their way to the launchpad. They are just about to leave for the cafeteria when it gets dark again. Instinctively, Red takes Black’s hand. By now, they spend more time holding hands than not. Red doesn’t mind. He’s grown fond of Black. His shy smile, his wide eye, the kindness and worry and trust in his heart. Trust that Red, out of all people, doesn’t deserve. But against his better knowledge, he lets Black hold his hand, hug him, and ask him questions that he doesn’t know how to answer without fear of revealing himself. Red feels a warmth and comfort whenever he is around Black that he hasn’t felt in a very long time, maybe ever. And he wants to spend every remaining second they have left on this godforsaken ship with him.</p><p>Once it’s pitch black, they hear Green say, “Let’s go fix the lights. Stay together.”</p><p>“We’re right behind you,” White says.</p><p>This time, Red and Black follow them along the corridor. But Red can sense that Black is scared, so he takes a second to make sure he is okay. Red wonders what made Black go on this mission, if he is so scared of what every Crewmate knows may happen. When they look up again, the lights are slowly turning back on. But Green and White are gone. And Pink and Blue are nowhere to be seen. They both know what that means.</p><p>“Someone is probably already dead,” Black says.</p><p>“I know,” Red says, closing his eyes. Red is not a killer, but he wishes he’d killed Pink when he had the chance. “Let’s go find the rest, whoever is still alive.”</p><p>They walk along the corridor towards MedBay, and as soon as they are close enough, Black lets out a cry and runs into the room. He’s kneeling by Blue’s body, or rather half of his body, his spine sticking out absurdly. A blood trail leads to the vent at the end of the room.</p><p>“I’m so sorry for all of this, Black,” Red says, kneeling down next to Black and putting a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>Black’s eye is closed, his body leaning back against Red’s. “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad I get to be with you until the end.”</p><p>The words cut through Red’s heart like a knife. He wants to tell him. He wants to tell him everything, so they can all eject Pink and live their lives in peace on this ship, see White’s kids grow up, plant flowers in the greenhouse, fix wires together and share a drink on the balcony until the sun comes up again. But he knows it can’t be. He’s an Impostor, and no Crewmate would ever let one live among them, knowing they could be in danger any second. And Red gets it. The Impostors are all monsters, born as one, and they will all die as one, and all his pacifism in the world could not convince Crewmates that there are some good ones among them, too. After all, Red has never met a good one before. Maybe that is why he didn’t object to being sent out on this mission. He couldn’t live another day among monsters.</p><p>“We should report the body”, Black says. “But I’m scared.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“What if they think it’s me?”</p><p>Red squeezes his shoulder. “They won’t. If anything, they’ll think it’s me. Why do you think they would suspect you? You haven’t done anything wrong this entire game. I even saw you scan, and so did Pink.”</p><p>“No, Red, you don’t understand. Where I come from, people with my colour are accused and arrested for things they didn’t do all the time. It’s part of why I wanted to leave my planet. I thought here I could be an equal, but I didn’t think it through, and now almost everyone is dead and I’m scared, Red, I’m so scared.”</p><p>“Me too, Black, me too.”</p><p>They don’t report the body. They don’t get to, because suddenly the alarm for the O2 goes off and even with enough oxygen still, Red feels his breathing get harder and harder.</p><p>They run up the corridor towards the greenhouse. Red is just a few steps behind black, until he is suddenly pulled into the other corridor by his arm. His scream is muffled by the alarm, and then he is thrown against the wall by Pink.</p><p>“What game are you playing?” she shouts at him, the hand that is pressing him into the wall blood-stained.</p><p>“Nothing, I just don’t want to kill anyone.”</p><p>“Right, it’s like you’ve fallen in love with them all of a sudden! What the hell!”</p><p>Pink punches the wall next to his head, and Red can feel his heart beat in his throat.</p><p>“I’ve killed every single one of them so far, and I just killed Green in the Office and vented so White didn’t see me while I reloaded my gun. We’ve won, we got the ship, so now all we need to do is off White and your little friend Black and we can take this ship home.”</p><p>Pink is pressing a blade against Red’s chest. “Take it, you useless Imp, go up there and kill Black. He will never see it coming. You can make it quick, if you want, then he doesn’t have to suffer. But <em>do it</em>. It’s what we’re here for, it’s what our race does, and you and I can go back to our planet and be celebrated like royalty. Our people need the resources on this ship, what are a few lives against the survival of a whole nation?”</p><p>Red is shaking. He is overwhelmed, scared, hurt, sad, angry, and most importantly, he knows he’s in love. In love with Black and everything he gave to Red that he thought he’d never get from anyone. Comfort, trust, warmth, kindness, understanding, and a sense of belonging. Can he really give this up to save his planet? He knows there are other ships, other Impostors coming home with the last Crewmates tied up in the locker rooms, or preferably dead, ships full of food and drinks and materials to build new homes on the wasteland that is their planet. But he knows there’s no future on this ship for him either, not with Pink here.</p><p>“Okay,” Red says. “I’ll do it. But I do it alone. White will be there too, probably.”</p><p>Just in that second, the O2 alarm is turned off again. Red sees Pink’s eyes burn through the glass as she hisses, “And you better do it, or I will kill them all, and then <em>you</em>.”</p><p>Red takes the knife out of Pink’s hand, and Pink releases him from her grip. Red makes his way up the corridor towards the greenhouse, his legs moving automatically. His mind is blank, except for one single thought that keeps playing over and over again in his head: <em>Save Black</em>.</p><p>When the door to the greenhouse opens, he sees Black standing between the plants. Out of the corner of his eye, Red sees White sitting on the floor, her children crying, trying to comfort them while it is clear that even she has lost hope.</p><p>Black turns his head when he hears the door, and he breathes in harshly before running towards Red. He throws himself into Red’s arms and says, “I thought you were dead! What happened? Why didn’t you follow me? I’m so sorry, I wanted to come find you, but I was so scared I was going to die if I left.” His voice shakes more with every word he speaks, tears welling up in his eye. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Red, I looked outside and aren’t the stars beautiful?”</p>
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  <p><br/>
© <b>nick</b></p>
</div><p>Black is crying, and Red can feel tears well up in his own eye. He looks past Black, through the windows that shield them from the outside world, and takes in the millions and billions of little white dots illuminating the night sky.</p><p>“They are,” he says, looking back at Black, still holding him close, “but not as beautiful as you.”</p><p>Black smiles at him, his arms around Red’s shoulder, and Red can watch a single tear run down the inside of his helmet.</p><p>“I love you, Black. I never thought I could. But I do, and I’m sorry for everything that happened. I could have stopped it, but I wasn’t brave enough and I thought it had to be like this, but it doesn’t. I’m an Impostor, Black, and I tried so hard to be good and protect you, but Pink is still out there and she’s going to come to kill us and even though there’s been enough bloodshed and enough monsters on these ships, I’m going to have to ask you to forgive me for what I’m about to do.”</p><p>Red takes a step back, Black’s arms falling to his side, and they can both hear the door open and close.</p><p>“Red, I– ”</p><p>“I knew you couldn’t do it, coward,” Pink screams.</p><p>Red turns around, standing in front of Black to protect him.</p><p>“You’re a fucking disgrace to our race and I will gladly take you down too and say you were so dumb they caught you even without killing anyone.”</p><p>Pink has her arm raised, gun pointing at Red. Red takes a breath, for the first time daring to meet Pink’s gaze unabashedly.</p><p>“You don’t have to do this, Pink. We don’t even remember why all of this happened in the first place. No one ever tells us why we keep killing Crewmates, why we have to live on a planet with no air, no food, no water, no warmth. It wasn’t always like this. Crewmates and us, we once lived together, we were the same, or why do you think we look so alike? And then something happened and we had to fight to survive, and now Crewmates think we’re all evil monsters that live to destroy and kill, and they’re right. But it doesn’t have to be like this. Please, Pink. I know you grew up like this, but our children don’t have to.”</p><p>Pink’s hand is wavering, the sound of a gun being cooked echoing through the room. “If we bring them to our planet alive, they will be killed anyway. Better to do it now and be celebrated.”</p><p>Pink turns towards White, who is pressed against the back wall, hiding her children behind her. “Please, Pink, no, I have kids, please don’t, I never wanted to come here, but I need money for my family. Please.”</p><p>“Stop it, Pink,” Red says. He takes a step towards Pink, then another, and another, and Pink points her gun back at Red. She’s shaking.</p><p>“We’re no monsters. It’s just what they tell us to make this easier. We can show them another way.”</p><p>Now, Red is right in front of Pink, the barrel of her gun pressed against Red’s chest. They look at each other, Pink’s helmet fogged up, her lips quivering, her eyes dead.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Red.”</p><p>A gunshot. Black screams. White cries out. Red feels the kickback of the gun as he grips Pink’s arm and aims it into the sky, then he opens his mouth and stings. Impostors have no nerves in their tongue, but Red still believes he can feel it pierce Pink’s skin and bones, her heart popped like a balloon. She dies instantly.</p><p>Pink’s body hits the ground, the gun falling next to her head. Her eye is still wide open, and Red looks away as he closes his mouth. He tastes Pink on his tongue. When he looks to Black, his hands are in front of his face, shocked, shaking, scared. Red’s only hope was that Black wouldn’t be disgusted by him, would see past his silver tongue and bloodshed eyes and maybe, maybe, learn to love a monster like him. Now he’s not sure if he made the right decision.</p><p>Black stands still as Red walks towards him, arms raised in defense, a pleading look on his face. “Black, I’m so sorry. I wish you didn’t have to see that.”</p><p>“Run away, Black!” White shouts, taking her kids on her arms and running past Pink’s body and out of the greenhouse.</p><p>But Black stays.</p><p>“Red…”</p><p>He’s right in front of him now, raising a blood-stained hand  to hold the side of Black’s helmet. Red gives him a smile.</p><p>“I did it for us. I’m not a monster, despite what everyone back home thinks. I want to be with you, Black, I want to keep you safe. If you’ll let me.”</p><p>Black sobs, taking Red’s hand in his. “I know I should be scared of you. But somehow I’m not. I love you, too, Red, for everything that you are.”</p><p>Red leans forward, resting his helmet against Black’s, seeing the reflection of the galaxy in the glass and in his eye. He smiles.</p><p>“You know what, Black? Now we can stare at the stars forever.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/>
© <b>BumbleBreezily</b></p>
  <p><br/>
© <b>MissC3PO</b></p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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